If Smith does not come back, do we have the tools up front to hold the fort for the rest of this season? Help is on the way next year. In the last four games Bails is 10 of 19 with 20 rebounds in only 55 minutes.

In those same four games LaMarvon is 4 of 7 with 9 rebounds in 56 minutes.

You don't have to have spectacular post players, but they do need to be dependable, and right now they are.

North Texas showed we can not stop good post players without him. With him we beat North Texas by a bunch.

Well, the other guys are going to have to step up and get the job done.

[quote='insideualr' pid='3890034' dateline='1231727216']
North Texas showed we can not stop good post players without him. With him we beat North Texas by a bunch.

A win by one is as good as a win by 20. We stopped them enough to win. We handled UNO without him and won handily. So if we have to play without him, so be it. We'll be allright.

(01-12-2009 12:23 AM)Dr. J. Wrote:  [quote='insideualr' pid='3890034' dateline='1231727216']
North Texas showed we can not stop good post players without him. With him we beat North Texas by a bunch.

A win by one is as good as a win by 20. We stopped them enough to win. We handled UNO without him and won handily. So if we have to play without him, so be it. We'll be allright.

Losing a starter is always going to hurt some. But if I recall, many fans thought we had more quality depth than we ever had before. Most teams have injuries during the course of a season (we've been incredibly lucky the last couple of years- knock on wood) and being able to overcome that is the sign of a good team that goes more than 6 or 7 deep. So far I believe we are 4-0 (ORU, ULM NT, UNO) without Mike. So we are doing pretty darn well without him. I still believe we are better with him but I guess we are only 7-5 in the games he played. I've got to believe we'll hear something on his status this week. Dragging it out longer wouldn't be fair to Mike or the team (and us fans).

I'll take a little less talent with a focused and unified team any time. What we do not need are distractions. This team can be good if they play like they can, but they won't if they have locker room issues.

Burton and Bails can't defend the post like Mike. Bails' knee is hurt and will limit him. Burton does not have the weight to defend down low against the big boys. The up side of Burton is he is a juco and will get better each game.

It is a problem, but we'll just have to work around it. Effort can sometimes overcome disadvantages.